Cheshire, F. Practical Bee-Keeping: Being plain instructions to the Amateur for the successful management of the Honey Bee.
2nd. Ed. Pub. Upcott Gill. [1878] pp.117 with text figs. throughout plus adverts for beekeeping equipment and books. 8vo. Hardback. Neat signature, dated 1955, and neat address stamp to ffep. A little spotting to fore-edges of text block o/w. contents fine. Original cloth boards with gilt lettering and motif in thor. vg. to nr. fine condition. (Harding 327)
The rewritten, enlarged edition of this practical work. Cheshire’s ‘Bees and Bee-keeping’ was advertised by Upcott Gill as ‘one of the most important contributions to the literature of Bee Culture that has yet been made’. In the end, the work ran to two volumes and it is still very much sought after today.
£45.00 [ref: 71775]

Cheshire, F.R. Bees & Bee-Keeping ; Scientific and Practical. Vol. II - Practical. A Complete Treatise on the Anatomy, Physiology, Floral Relations, and Profitable Management of the Hive Bee.
1st. Ed. Pub. Upcott Gill. 1888 pp.[vi], 652 with b/w. illus., in text plus 5-pages of adverts. 8vo. Hardback. With the signature of Stanley Baldwin, dated July 29th, 1892 to ffep. Some spotting to fore-edges of text block, only very occ. internally, mark to fore-edge of p.453 o/w. contents fine. Original decorated boards nr fine - more recently protected with clear laminate covering with snag to rear panel.
Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947), was Conservative Prime Minister on three occasions.
£125.00 [ref: 71239]

Cotton, W.C. A Manual for New Zealand Bee Keepers.
Ltd. Ed. Rep. Pub. Newrick. 1976 pp.112. Bound attractively in almond coloured bookcloth. Copy no. 792 of 800. Nr. fine hardback.
This book was first published in 1848 and is now very difficult to find in original format. The copy on offer here is part of a limited edition of 800 faithful facsimiles which were attractively bound in Kivar bookcloth.
£25.00 [ref: 71176]

Cotton, W.C. My Bee Book.
1st. Ed. Pub. Rivington 1842 With the usual irregular pagination as noted in Harding's 'Bibliography of Bee Books'. pp.lvi, 2 leaves, then pages 60-368 (pp.72-98 have the same no. on both left and right hand pages) With illustrations by Whimper. 8vo. Hardback. Neat repair to blank fore-margin of half-title and ffep., small chip to fore-margin of title and last page. Occ. light spotting throughout o/w. contents fine. Original spine skilfully relaid on more recent cloth boards, sympathetic to the original binding, in nr. fine condition.
‘This is in the nature of a scrapbook, containing Cotton’s letters to cottagers, bee verses and mottoes, and reprints of parts of books by Southerne, Moore, Thorley, Sydserff, etc., and also the rules of the Oxford Apiarian Society, and details of Cotton’s plans to introduce bees to New Zealand. Cotton, who was a clergyman, adopted a very moral tone in advocating the use of a puff ball narcotic to spare the lives of the bees.’ (Harding 238).
£195.00 [ref: 71188]

Cotton, W.C. My Bee Book.
1st. Ed. Pub. Rivington. 1842 With the usual irregular pagination as noted in Harding's 'Bibliography of Bee Books'. pp.lvi, 2 leaves, then pages 60-368 (pp.72-98 have the same no. on both left and right hand pages). With illustrations by Whimper. 8vo. Hardback. Early bookplate of Robert H. Wood, Brinscall Hall (dated 1861 and featuring a skep) and signature of Theodore Lean in two places. Occasional early pencil annotation. Very minor spotting, o/w., contents fine. Spine skilfully relaid and original brown cloth boards in thor. vg. condition.
‘This is in the nature of a scrapbook, containing Cotton’s letters to cottagers, bee verses and mottoes, and reprints of parts of books by Southerne, Moore, Thorley, Sydserff, etc., and also the rules of the Oxford Apiarian Society, and details of Cotton’s plans to introduce bees to New Zealand. Cotton, who was a clergyman, adopted a very moral tone in advocating the use of a puff ball narcotic to spare the lives of the bees.’ (Harding 238).
£375.00 [ref: 62914]

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Cowan, T.W. British Bee-Keeper’s Guide Book. To the Management of Bees in Movable-comb Hives, and the use of the Extractor.
14th. Ed. Pub. Houlston & Sons. [1896] pp.xii, 176 with b/w. photos. & illus. throughout plus 12-pages of adverts for beekeeping supplies. Small 8vo. Softback. Binding held by one of three cords and an old tape repair. Some spotting to contents. Rear cover repaired with brown paper.
'It is largely through the influence of this little guide that the form of British bee-keeping practice took on its well-known characteristics' (R.O.B. Manley). Ron Brown wrote of Thomas W. Cowan (1840-1926) that he had ‘an outstanding record of service to British Beekeeping!’.
£15.00 [ref: 70961]

Cowan, T.W. The Honey Bee. Its Natural History, Anatomy and Physiology.
2nd. Ed. Pub. Houlston & Sons. [1904] pp.xi, 220 with b/w. illus. throughout plus 4-pages of adverts. Small 8vo. Hardback. F.H. Taylor’s stamp to verso of frontis. and title page. Ffep. partially glued to front pastedown. Some spotting, cords a little stretched o/w. contents in vg. condition. Text block lean. Original decorated cloth binding in fair to good condition.
A detailed account, easily absorbed and very well illustrated.
£12.50 [ref: 64233]

De Ribeaucourt, C. A Manual of Rational Bee-Keeping.
Pub. Diprose & Bateman. [c.1879] pp.xv, [i], 108 with col. frontis., and b/w. text illus. Small 8vo. Hardback. Small bookseller’s label to front pastedown. Minor spotting to fore-edges of text block o/w. contents fine. Original decorated cloth boards in thor. vg. to nr. fine condition. Scarce. Harding 346.
‘Study of Bogue’s 32-page catalogue suggests that the Diprose & Bateman ed. is the earlier.’ (Harding 346). A delightful, to-scale, architectural drawing of a Bee-House is featured on the frontispiece.
£325.00 [ref: 71207]

Dunbar, Rev. William (Jardine, Sir William.). The Natural History of Bees. Comprehending the Uses and Economical Management of the Honey-Bee of Britain and other countries, together with descriptions of the known wild species.....and memoir of Huber.
Pub. W.H. Lizars, Edinburgh. [c.1840] pp.ix, [i], 17-301 with hand-coloured portrait frontispiece illustration , hand-col. half title and 30 plates, (19 hand-col.) as published. 8vo. Hardback. Very minor spotting to tissue guards o/w. contents fine. Endpapers renewed. Original boards with most of original spine relaid all in thor. vg. to nr. fine condition. A very pleasing copy.
‘The colour plates are particularly attractive. Dunbar also wrote three articles on bees in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal 1820-24’, (Harding 236).
£250.00 [ref: 71776]

Filleul, P.V.M. Profitable Bee-keeping on Improved Principles. Chiefly Designed for the Use of Cottagers.
2nd. Ed. Pub. SPCK. c.1883 pp.92 with b/w. illus in text and 4-page publisher’s catalogue. Small 8vo. Hardback. We believe this copy to be from the library H.M Fraser - it has Fraser written on the front board and is initialled and dated August 1966 to the ffep - please ask for further information. Contents in nr. fine condition. Original gilt-lettered cloth boards in thor. vg. condition. Scarce. Harding 311.
P.V.M Filleul was Rector of Biddisham, Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. This revised edition contains additional information. H.M. Fraser wrote ‘Beekeeping in Antiquity’ (1931), ‘Anton Janscha on the swarming of bees’ (1951 and ‘History of Beekeeping in Britain’ (1958).
£150.00 [ref: 54699]